‘It is a setback’ – Mahela Jayawardene accepts faults in Mumbai Indians’ sad loss to LSG

On April 5, the Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a humiliating 12-run loss to the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow. MI failed to pursue 22 runs in six balls in a thrilling last over. Hardik Pandya was at the wicket, but the strong team was unable to reach the finish line in time to meet Lucknow’s 204-run mark.

Mahela Jayawardene, the head coach of MI, expressed dissatisfaction with the loss and called it a “setback” for the team. What went against them in the first innings was the bowling. Despite losing the majority of their middle-order batsmen in short succession, LSG managed to score a respectable total.

Despite striking nine boundaries and one six in his incredible 67 runs off just 43 balls, star batsman and vice captain Suryakumar Yadav was unable to win the match. The five-time champions ultimately lost the game because the middle-order was unable to control the bowling attack after he was out.

“I must admit that this is a setback. Even though we lost early wickets, we still had momentum batting-wise. We definitely made a lot of mistakes, particularly with the ball, and should have limited them by perhaps 15 to 20 runs. After the game, he stated, “I attribute it to the fact that we were not able to execute what needed to be executed in some situations and that we were not smart enough.”

“So we simply have to return. The former Sri Lankan cricket player continued, “We would love to win away games because we had three away games and one home game. However, it’s now up to us to really get our points on the board and then push through.”

Mahela Jayawardene points out mistakes vs LSG

The head coach discussed the errors that MI has been making this season. The 47-year-old believes that their bowling needs to be improved and that the hitters should have more responsibility in the middle overs. He believed that these two key adjustments are crucial for MI to win their next games.

“We didn’t have the rhythm in the first two games, and I believe we were somewhat outplayed in Chennai and GT, but now I think we’re back to our best. “Obviously, batting needs to execute and finish a game off, and I think our bowling needs a little fine-tuning,” he added.